Folding sofa bed structure



P. W. EAKINS April 1, 1969 FOLDING SOFA BED STRUCTURE Filed Aug. 24, 1967 United States Patent US. Cl. 13 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Sofa bed framing construction including a bed foot section which is reversed to form a sofa seat support, there being a hand grip element near the front edge of the sofa seat support when the construction is in sofa forming position by means of which the bed foot section may be unfolded without requiring the user to bend over the seat and grasp the later adjacent to the sofa back. Preferably the construction includes means locking the foot section in inverted seat support position by downward pressure applied to the hand grip element near the front of the sofa seat support and released by upward pull on the hand grip element applied at the front of the sofa seat support.

Background of the invention In sofa bed constructions of the type involved, it is customary to lift the outer end of the foot portion of the extended bed, swing it upwardly and inwardly of the sofa frame and away from the user, and then lean over the partially folded construction and press the inturned outer end of the foot section downwardly toward the plane of the main section of the construction. This operation is resisted by the resiliency of the mattress and other bedding which is being folded. While the resistance may be overcome rather readily by a tall person of substantial strength, it is not so easy and sometimes exceedingly difiicult for a short person and especially a woman to fold and unfold the sofa bed without undue effort and particularly when initiating an unfolding operation or completing a folding operation.

Summary of the invention The present invention eliminates or substantially reduces the effort required by a person of small stature and slight strength standing in front of the sofa. Compressing the bedding and locking the associated construction sections in bedding-compressing position relation are additional advantages attained without necessitating the user bending over the sofa seat.

DescriptiOn of the drawings FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an unfolded sofa bed embodying the invention.

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are side elevations of the outer portion of the steel frame construction showing it in successi-ve positions during folding operations.

FIG. 5 is a similar view showing the entire construction completely folded.

Description of the preferred embodiment The sofa frame, usually of wood, includes side rails 1, uprights 2, arms 3, a front rail 4, a back 5 and legs 6. The steel framing construction includes a head section 10, a main section 11, a front section 12 with a pivot connection A to the forward end of the main section, and a foot section 13 with a pivot connection B to the forward end of the front section. The swinging end of foot section 13 terminates in a cross bar 14.

3,435,468 Patented Apr. 1, 1969 Main section 11 is supported from the sofa frame by linkage 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, or any corresponding linkage. Bell cranks 25, pivoted on main section 11, and links 26, 27 pivoted to links 23 and to legs 28, actuate the latter to the position supporting the main section from the floor, as shown in FIG. 1, or to a folded position when the parts are in sofa-forming position with foot section 13 inverted over main section 11 and forming the support for the sofa cushions N (FIG. 5). The above described structure is well known in the art and does not constitute the novel features of the present invention.

Elongated members 30 are pivoted at C to foot section 13, near a portion of the latter remote from its pivotal connection B to front section 12, and are connected at their lower ends by a cross rail 31 forming a hand grip. Elements 30, 31 form a leg unit supporting the outer end of the foot section from the floor. They are connected to the bed foot and front sections 13, 12 by linkage comprising elements 33, 34, 35, and during a folding operation as foot section 13 is swung upwardly and inwardly, by lifting bar 14, the leg unit is moved through the FIG. 2 position to the FIG. 3 position where its cross rail 31 is directly above upright front section 12. In this position the user may exert light downward pressure manual on rail 31, directly over the front edge of the sofa, and the leg unit 30, 31 acts as a lever fiulcrumed at C and D (FIG. 3) to assist the user in overcoming the resistance of the mattres M and other bedding to compression during folding. Also the lever exerts thrust at D on the toggle joint formed by links 33 and the upper end portions 301: of legs 30. As pivots D move in the direction of arrow X across lines Y extending between pivots B and C, the structure forms an over-center lock holding the main and foot sections 11 and 13 in substantially parallel relatiomto each other and resisting upward thrust by the folded mattress M and associated bedding.

When the user exerts a similarly light upward manual pressure on rail 31 in the FIG. 4 position, the leverage afforded by legs 30 thrusts pivots D upwardly, breaking the toggle joint lock, whereupon the user may readily pull rail 31, foot section 13 and front section 12 forwardly to coplanar bed position.

It is not necessary for the user to lean over the sofa seat to try to lift or push the inner edge of the inverted foot section while the user is in awkward and inefiicient position. Not only may the user exert the necessary thrust with little elfort while standing upright but he has the benefit of the leverage afforded by member 30, 31 fulcrumed at C. This is particularly desirable in actuating the toggle lock.

I claim:

1. In sofa bed construction, a main section, a front section, and a foot section having pivot connections to each other successively and unfoldable about said connections to assume a coplanar bed-forming relation and foldable about said connections to assume a sofa-forming relation with said foot section positioned to support a sofa seat, an elongated member forming a lever having a fulcrum at one end on said foot section and having a hand grip at its swinging end, there being linkage extending between said front section and said lever intermediate said fulcrum and hand grip, said hand grip being movable manually downwardly and upwardly respectively adjacent said front section to complete a folding operation of the sections and to initiate an unfolding operation of the same.

2. Sofa bed construction as described in claim 1 in which said linkage comprises elongated members pivoted to each other and forming an over-center toggle lock holding the sections in folded relation.

3. In sofa bed construction, a main section, a front section, and a foot section having pivot connections to each other successively and unfoldable about said connections to assume a coplanar bed-forming relation and foldable about said connections to assume a sofa-forming relation with the front section positioned to support the front of the sofa seat, toggle linkage connecting said front and foot sections, an elongated member with one end portion having a pivot connection to a portion of said foot section remote from the latters pivot connection to the front section, the other end portion of said member being movable manually downwardly and upwardly adjacent to said front section to look and unlock said toggle linkage respectively while folding and unfolding the foot section and the main section.

4. Sofa bed construction as described in claim 3 in which the elongated member is movable about its pivot connection to the foot section to depend therefrom and support the latter from the floor.

5. Sofa bed construction as described in claim 3 which includes linkage connecting the elongated member and the foot section and the front section, which linkage swings the elongated member downwardly from its pivot connection to the foot section, when the sections are unfolded, to form a leg device supporting the swinging end of the foot section from the floor.

6. Sofa bed construction as described in claim 3 in which the elongated member comprises spaced elements pivoted respectively to opposite sides of the foot section, and a connecting rail extends between the swinging ends of said elements and reinforcing them and is operable by the user grasping said rail at any point between its ends.

7. In sofa bed construction as described in claim 3, linkage connecting the elongated member and the main and foot sections, and actuated by thrusting the swinging end of said member toward the front section in folding operation to form an over-center toggle lock for holding said main, front and foot sections in folded relation.

8. In sofa bed constpuction as described in claim 3, an elongated lever pivoted intermediate its ends on the foot section between the ends of the latter, and individual links each having one end pivoted to an end of said lever, the other end of one link being pivoted to the elongated member and to the front section respectively, the other end of the other link being pivoted to the front section, said lever and links forming an over-center toggle lock for holding said foot section and main section in substantially parallel folded relation to each other.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,237,213 3/1966 Birgbauer 513 X 3,300,792 1/1967 Spitz 5-13 3,321,777 5/1967 Pokorny 5l3 3,380,083 4/1968 Mikos 513 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl X.R. 555 

